Pro

Tennis: Field announced for New Haven Open BY ROGER CLEAVELAND REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN

The New Haven Open tennis tournament announced Wednesday that its field for this year's event to be held Aug. 16-24 at the Connecticut Tennis Center on the Yale campus will include at least five Top 10 players including last week's Wimbledon champion, No. 7-ranked Marion Bartoli.

The real excitement for tournament director Anne Worceter is that both Bartoli and the woman she beat in the Wimbledon final, No. 18 Sabine Lisicki, are part of this year's tournament.

"We all knew Marion Bartoli was competing because we announced she was coming when she was No. 14 in the world and committed months ago," Worcester said. "She had this amazing surprise run to the final. It is the first time Sabine Lisicki has played here, but i have been working on getting her here for years and years. I didn't expect Sabine Lisicki to have her run (at Wimbledon). She upset Serena and other Top 10 players on the way to the final."

The cutoff for direct entry into this year's New Haven field is No. 41 in the world. Twenty of the top 41 players requested direct entry. The 30-player tournament leaves open six spots for players to earn their way into the main draw through a qualifying tournament, and Worcester still has four wild cards to give to players who request them. Two wild cards can be given to any player of Worcester's chosing, and two have to be given to players who finished in the top 20 rankings at the end of last year.

But Worcester is already excited with who she has committed.

"The field is five of the Top 10 players, which we have never ever had this early before the wild card hunt," Worcester said. "That will definitely help us sell tickets. Then of course we have Petra Kvitiva, who was the 2011 Wimbledon champion. We are also delighted to announce English teen sensation Laura Robson (No. 27) is coming back. So there will be a lot of Wimbledon flavor."

Follow Us

Post a reader comment

We encourage your feedback and dialog. Please be civil and respectful.If you're witty, to the point and quotable, your reader comments may also be included on the Around the Towns page of The Sunday Republican. Readers must be registered and logged in to post comments on the site. Registration is free. Click Here to register.
A Subscription is not required to post comments only a Registration.